[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 17584-17585]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING OUR ARMED FORCES


                        Specialist Jason E. Ames

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, my home State of Kentucky is mourning 
the loss of a brave young soldier. On August 31, 2005, SPC Jason E. 
Ames was killed while serving his country in Mosul, Iraq. Hailing from 
Cerulean, KY, Specialist Ames was 21 years old.
  For his valor in uniform, Specialist Ames received several medals, 
decorations, and awards, including the Army Commendation Medal, the 
Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Combat 
Infantryman Badge.
  Jason was taken from his loved ones much too soon. But those closest 
to him know he packed his 21 years with all he could. ``Jason was 
always a happy-go-lucky person,'' says his mom Susan Foust. ``Whatever 
he encountered . . . he did it with a lot of life and a lot of 
laughter.''
  Born in Illinois to a military family, Jason moved around a lot as a 
kid and saw many parts of the world. Wherever he went, he made his own 
fun.
  Susan recalls:

       Jason loved to play Army as a child and played it often 
     with kids in the neighborhood. He made a suit out of 
     camouflage netting, sticks, and leaves. Using the military 
     acronym for Battle Dress Uniform--

  She says--

     he would also wear his mother's BDUs.

  Susan also says:

       Another favorite of Jason's was riding in his mother's 
     Dodge convertible with the top down, no matter the weather, 
     and listening to ``Danger Zone'' from ``Top Gun.''

  Young Jason could also rely on the companionship of man's best 
friend. As Susan explains it:

       Jason would often play in the woods for hours while trying 
     to hide from the family dog named Moocher. I would tell 
     Moocher to find Jason, and no matter how well hidden Jason 
     thought he was, Moocher would find him.

  Jason eventually settled in Cerulean, a town in Trigg County, in the 
southwestern part of my State. He attended Trigg County High School in 
Cadiz and graduated in 2003.
  Even before reaching high school graduation, however, Jason felt 
strongly that he wanted to serve his country. Perhaps he was influenced 
by the respect for duty and service that ran deep in his family. At the 
age of 17, while still in high school, he asked his mother to grant her 
permission for him to enlist. Susan wanted Jason to wait until he 
turned 18, but Jason was so eager he convinced his mom to let him go 
ahead and sign up.
  ``We supported him with whatever decision he made,'' Susan says.
  Jason enlisted and became an infantryman. By the time he was deployed 
to Iraq in October 2004, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st 
Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, based in Fort 
Lewis, WA.

[[Page 17585]]

  Sadly, Jason's life was taken just a few weeks shy of when he was due 
to return home and shortly before his 21st birthday.
  The Reverend Ron Hicks, a close friend of the Ames family, officiated 
at the services, and Jason was buried with full military honors at the 
Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville, the Commonwealth's 
first State veterans cemetery.
  Many beloved family members and friends across the country mourn 
Jason's loss, including his mother, Susan Arlene Ames Foust, and his 
sister Krystal Dawn Knight. Our thoughts turn to them as they are 
confronted with this great loss.
  Jason's mom Susan says:

       Jason had just turned 21 years old when he was taken. For 
     the 21 years that he was with us, those years are priceless.

  Susan and all of Jason's family are certainly right to treasure those 
21 precious years. It is my hope they are also comforted by the 
knowledge that this country and this Senate honors SPC Jason E. Ames as 
a patriot and as a hero. He left his Nation stronger by his service and 
his sacrifice.


                   Staff Sergeant Nicholas R. Carnes

  Additionally, Mr. President, I rise because another Kentucky family 
is missing a husband, son, and brother, and our great State is missing 
a patriot who loved his country. SSG Nicholas R. Carnes was tragically 
killed on October 26, 2007, in Afghanistan while in combat with the 
enemy. A native of Dayton, KY, he was 25 years old.
  Staff Sergeant Carnes had volunteered for the mission that would be 
his last, stepping in for another soldier on leave. For his bravery and 
service, he received several medals, awards, and decorations, including 
the Combat Action Badge, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Kentucky 
Distinguished Service Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Bronze Star 
Medal.
  Because of a letter he sent to his wife Terri, we know why Nick chose 
to serve and place himself in harm's way. This is what he wrote in 
November 2006, a few weeks after he deployed to Afghanistan. He said:

       Dear Terri . . . If the other soldiers who came before me 
     did not stand up for freedom, then we would not have freedom. 
     So I feel that I am obliged to stand up for freedom to ensure 
     that everyone else after me has the same freedoms we do 
     today.

  Nick's family and friends remain inspired to this day by that young 
man's courage. His mother, WrayJean, puts it simply:

       My son has been a hero from the second he was born. He 
     became a bigger hero when he did the job he did over there.

  Nick grew up in Dayton, and WrayJean and his father, Gove, recall he 
had a fun-filled and active childhood. He loved to hunt and he loved to 
fish. Gove taught him how to shoot. He played football in high school 
and practiced martial arts.
  Nick loved country music, especially Johnny Cash, George Jones, and 
Hank Williams, Jr. ``I have a country band and Nicholas would sing with 
us,'' Gove remembers.
  His sister, Amanda Manasra, remembers: ``We went four-wheeling often 
and got a little muddy.''
  She also remembers the time she and Nick built a treehouse, a 
treehouse Amanda was too scared to climb. ``I never went up there,'' 
she says.

       Nick helped me overcome my fear. He always pushed me over 
     my limits. He always had a can-do attitude. He said: 
     ``can't'' isn't in your vocabulary.

  Gove and Gove's uncle were both in the Kentucky National Guard, and 
Nick grew up climbing on Army trucks. In 1999, when he was 17, he 
entered a Guard training program and by his senior year at Dayton High 
School, Nick was in the Guard. ``It was in his blood,'' WrayJean said.

       There was no stopping the desire. He would say, ``Who would 
     keep us free if I don't do this?''

  Nick graduated from high school in 2000 and went to work for BB 
Riverboats, a company that runs riverboat cruises along the Ohio River. 
It was there he met Terri, the woman he would ask to become his wife. 
``We ran off to Las Vegas for my 30th birthday,'' Terri says.

       When we were there, we went to Lake Mead . . . he got on 
     his knee and asked me to marry him. I said, ``Sure! Let's 
     go!'' It was meant to be.

  With a happy life and friends and family who loved him, Nick still 
felt the call to duty. WrayJean remembers what Nick said to her on the 
day of the worst terrorist attack in this Nation's history.
  ``When 9/11 happened, Nicholas and I sat side by side on the couch,'' 
she says.

       We both sat there with tears rolling down our face. He 
     said, ``This is what I want to do.''

  Terri also remembers how her husband was eager to serve. ``He could 
not wait to go overseas,'' she says.

       He would say, ``Can you imagine preparing for your whole 
     life and never getting to fight for your country?'' He loved 
     what he was doing over there . . . I know he would do it 
     again.

  Nick's Guard unit was activated and he was eventually deployed to 
Afghanistan with Battery A, 2nd Battalion, 138th Field Artillery, based 
out of Carrollton, KY. His friend, Brian Sawyer, who served alongside 
him, remembers Nick's dedication to his training and to his mission.
  ``Nick was by the rulebook,'' Brian says.

       When he graded my physical training test, if it wasn't a 
     push-up by the books, he didn't count it. . . . With 
     everybody, he was by the book. Not mean, but fair. Fair and 
     firm. . . . He knew pushing me to do the push-up the right 
     way was better for me.

  Nick believed he had been sent to Afghanistan to make people's lives 
better, and he did it even in his downtime. He asked Terri to send him 
toys and gifts he could distribute to the kids there.
  ``Everything he did was sweet,'' Terri says.

       It was rare, because mainly guys typically aren't caring 
     and understanding. He was different than all the rest.

  Nick's work ethic also impressed everyone. His commanding officer, 
MAJ Walt Leaumont, had this to say:

       When Nick came into the National Guard originally, I was 
     his battery commander. He was this little chubby 18-year-old 
     who had a spirit that wouldn't quit. He had a positive 
     attitude. He was a dream to command.

  Sadly, Major Leaumont was also the officer charged with the sad task 
of telling Nick's family he would not be coming home. ``The night I 
notified his family was probably the toughest time I have ever worn 
this uniform,'' the major recalls.
  Our prayers are with the Carnes family after their terrible loss. We 
are thinking of his wife Terri Bernstein-Carnes; his mother WrayJean; 
his father Gove; his sisters, Amanda Manasra and Sarah Carnes; his 
brother Brian Carnes; his grandmother, Frankie Glascock; his 
grandfather, Gove Carnes, Jr.; his stepmother Charlotte Carnes, and 
many other beloved family members and friends.
  Nick was predeceased by his grandfather, Earl Glascock, and his 
grandmother, Hazel Carnes.
  Before Nick shipped out, he and his family threw a birthday party for 
his wife Terri. Nick's sister, Amanda, jokingly told him:

       You don't have to go. I can break your legs.

  But Nick would have none of it. He told his little sister:

       Just always know that I did it for us and I did it for 
     them. This was my destiny given by God and I have to fulfill 
     it.

  SSG Nicholas R. Carnes represented the very best his town, his State, 
and his Nation have to offer. His service and his sacrifice prove it. 
The Senate is proud to honor men like him who see that America needs 
defending and bravely step forward to defend it.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Hawaii is 
recognized.

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